THE EFFECT OF IMMOBILIZED YEAST CELLS IN CA-ALGINATE ON ETHANOL FERMENTATION OF DRAGON FRUIT (HYLOCEREUS COSTARICENSIS)

By Nguyen Bang Phi, Nguyen Cam Le
DOI: 10.37550/tdmu.EJS/2025.01.613

Dragon fruit-based wine is a value-added product that enhances the value of domestic agricultural products, especially for those facing challenges in raw form export. In this study, Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells were immobilized using the Ca-alginate carrier for assessing the influence of Na-alginate and CaCl2 concentrations on the quality of immobilized Ca-alginate beads during wine fermentation. A repeated fermentation study was conducted to determine the efficiency and stability of immobilized beads in dragon fruit-based wine fermentation. The results indicated that the immobilized Ca-alginate beads exhibited good fermentation efficiency with 3% Na-alginate and 2% CaCl2 concentrations. Moreover, the fermentation efficiency was maintained through at least four fermentation cycles. The immobilized yeast cells contributed to the production of wine with favorable qualities in terms of color and taste, meeting the standards in laboratory-scale TCVN 3215-79. These findings underscore the potential of cell immobilization technology using Ca-alginate carriers in the fermentation process of dragon fruit- based wine. This technology significantly enhances the value and diversifies the range of Vietnamese agricultural products, mainly dragon fruit